Chapter 8 - Irezumi (Tattoo)

        The next day, Nara spent almost all day in bed. She had no want, and no need, to get off her lazy butt and do something active. Hinata came over for a while, and she got up and watched some movies with her, but once she left, she passed out, Momo still curled up next to her. Iruka was able to stay home that day, and watched over her all day, doing all of the cooking and stuff like that. Rock Lee came over for a bit as well, to check on her and make sure she hadn’t gotten sick. He brought her a bouquet of Morning Glories, her favorite flower. Naruto also came by, mainly just to see Iruka, but he said “Hi” along the way.


        The day after that, Nara decided to get up. Iruka had already left by the time she was out of bed. As she opened the door to leave, she was greeted by a familiar face: Kakashi-sensei. “Hi Nara. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Nara nodded. “Y-yes, it has.” Kakashi then looked at her, and put his hand on her shoulder. “We need to talk, Nara. And no, we can’t wait. This is important.” Nara nodded, and followed Kakashi to the memorial stone, where no one could listen in to the conversation. Kakashi double-checked that no one else was around, and then he began to speak.


        “Nara, you wouldn’t believe what I found. I was skimming through the Bingo Book, and there were some new names on there.” Nara blushed, and laughed nervously. “You wouldn’t say…” Kakashi stepped a bit closer to her. “And as I read the names, I saw your name on there, as an S ranked criminal…” Kakashi sighed. Nara, on the other hand, looked as if she was about to burst into tears. “Ka-kakashi-sensei…please don’t m-make me go b-back! Please!” Kakashi sighed, and kneeled down in front of her. “Nara, I don’t want to send you back, and I don’t want to report you. But if you stay any longer, someone is going to find out on their own, and I won’t be able to save you. Nara, you’re a class S criminal. You’ve committed murder, and turned against your own village.”


          Nara, who was now sitting down, hugged her knees, and rested her head on them, as she continued to cry. “I-I know…I didn’t want t-to. I was ki-kidnapped. I was forced in-into this.” Kakashi lifted Nara’s head, looking right into her eyes, now bloodshot and tear-stained. “Nara, I’m sorry. I will try to clear this up with the Hokage, but I’m not sure she’s going to allow it. The best plan for now would be to lay low. Only trust those that are closest to you. Stay with Iruka. He can protect you….don’t worry, he already knows what happened.” Nara looked at Kakashi, and nodded. She could feel more tears coming. Apparently, she had been holding in a lot of her feelings, a lot of her sadness and pain. Kakashi just stayed next to her as she cried. It was about ten minutes until her eyes were finally dry. Kakashi then led her back to Iruka’s house, and made sure that everything was in check before finally leaving.
 

           When Nara had checked the clock, she realized that about four hours had passed since she had left. There was still some time in the day left, but Nara took Kakashi’s advice. For the rest of the day, she stayed in the house, just watching TV and reading. When Iruka got home, Nara was worried. Kakashi did say that he knew, but didn’t know how he would react. She went to go explain it to him, but as she was about to talk, he kneeled down and hugged her. He rubbed her back, and held her tightly, as if he was going to lose her if he let go. “Nara….it’s alright….I know what happened….you don’t need to worry….I don’t hate you for it….not at the slightest….” Nara bit down on her lower lip, to keep herself from bursting into tears for the third time today.


            Iruka had decided that it was better not to leave Nara at home anymore. Instead, he brought her to the academy. She would help with the lessons, and play around with the kids. Most of the time, however, she just stayed in the planning room, alone. She’d pass the time by reading, or maybe watching some video. Sometimes she would babysit for Sasuke and Sofy, which she loved to do. But mostly, she just sat there, bored out of her mind. But today would be different.


             She was sitting in the planning room, reading a book, when she heard the door open. She looked up, and the color drained from her face. It was Kiba, with Akamaru behind her. He looked ready to murder, and Nara felt that she was going to be the victim. Kiba walked right up to her, and slapped her across the face, leaving three scratch marks going across her cheek. She covered her cheek, it now stinging and starting to bleed. “What are you doing back here?! I thought you left! Why did you come back!! Just leave!! Get out of my life, you filthy demon!! I know your new secret, and I’ll tell it to everyone if you don’t leave!” Nara winced, and then ran out of the room, tears streaming from her eyes. She was absolutely devastated.


              She felt that her life couldn’t get any worse. Kiba pretty much wanted her dead. Then again, so did a lot of people. Maybe even her friends hated her, and just didn’t show it. Maybe they also hated the demon inside her, and hated her as well. Maybe they would all just be happier if Nara Namida ceased to exist. She finally stopped running at the training park, where she climbed the nearest tree and continued to cry. Nothing at that moment could make her feel better. Soon, it started to rain, and she stayed there, all alone. Nara started to sing, in an effort to settle herself, and her emotions.

“She sits in her corner
Singing herself to sleep
Wrapped in all of the promises
That no one seems to keep
She no longer cries to herself
No tears left to wash away
Just diaries of empty pages
Feelings gone astray
And she will sing

Till everything burns
And everyone screams
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
All of this hate
And all of this pain
Burn it all down
As my anger reigns
Till everything burns

Walking through life unnoticed
Knowing that no one cares
To consumed in their masquerade
No one sees her there
But she will sing

Till everything burns
And everyone screams
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
All of this hate
And all of this pain
Burn it all down
As my anger reigns
Till everything burns

Everything burns
Everything burns
Everything burns
Watching it all fade away
Till everyone screams
Everyone screams
Everyone screams
Watching it all fade away

Till everything burns
And everyone screams
Burning their lies
Burning my dreams
All of this hate
And all of this pain
Burn it all down
As my anger reigns
Till everything burns”

        Instead of lifting her spirits, the song made her feel worse. She jumped out of the tree, and started to walk back to Iruka’s, letting the rain drench her to the skin. When she finally got back, Iruka immediately came up to her. At first he was angry, but then he noticed the scratch marks. He lightly stroked where the blood was seeping through. “Nara…what happened to you?” Nara had to take a few deep breaths to keep from crying, although with how wet she was, no one would really notice. “K-kiba came to the A-academy….he slapped me….ca-called me a filthy d-demon….he told me that he kn-knew my secret….and t-to leave….or he’d tell e-everyone.” Iruka hugged her. He was there to see what happened between her and Kiba, and knew how sensitive a topic this was to her. “It’s alright. He won’t tell anyone. Let’s check out your wound. It looks kind of bad.” 


        Iruka sat her on a chair and had a good look at the scratches. They were cutting deep into her skin, and cleansing it only made more blood seep out. By the time he finally stopped the bleeding, her cheek had started bruising, and was beginning to swell. He just put a simple gauze pad on it, and had her hold an ice pack against the pad. The pain soon began to fade, and she soon drifted off to sleep. Iruka covered her with a blanket, and took the ice pack from her hand. Momo, instead of curling up against her back, lightly licked her cheek, and slept in front of the couch, as if on guard duty.


        Nara woke up the next day with a cold. She assumed it was from staying in the rain so long last night. Rock Lee had come over as soon as he heard that she was sick. He brought another bunch of flowers, and stayed with her for a while, especially after he heard what happened with Kiba. Lee didn’t leave until late afternoon, when Nara finally passed out from the fever. Lee, who had an extra key to the place (Given to him by Iruka, so he could watch over Nara), quietly shut the door and locked it, making sure that nothing was out of place. 


        Nara was soon awoken by a knock on the door. She opened it, only to find Kakashi standing there. He seemed a bit happy, or maybe that was just her fever. “Nara, there’s some news about your case. Hokage-sama seems to be okay with it, but some of her advisors are against it. They think you’re going to turn against us.” Nara shook her head. “B-but I’d never do th-that…” Kakashi nodded. “I know, Nara. That’s what I told them. They said that they’re going to put some thought into it…” Nara cocked her head. “Is that all?” Kakashi nodded yet again. “Yep. That’s all. Just wanted to give you an update.” Nara smiled. “Well, th-thank you. Goodbye, K-kakashi-sensei.” Kakashi waved as she closed the door. Then, for no reason, she sat on the couch and started laughing. “Wow, these last few days have been interesting, haven’t they?” 


        By the next day, most of her friends had heard about what happened with Kiba. They still didn’t know about her being in the Akatsuki. Kakashi said that it was safer to keep it a secret. Hinata offered to talk to Kiba about the affair, but Nara stopped her. She didn’t need a reason for Kiba to be angry at her. After all, Kiba hated her as it was. One little thing to set him off could tempt him to do more than just scratch her.


        Most of her days were instead spent with her friends. Iruka saw no need to watch her anymore, so she spent the days training with Lee or hanging with Hinata or Naruto. She became less depressed, and became confident enough to move back into her old house. The landlords were very happy to see her again. They had a small ‘Welcome Back’ party for her. The only thing was….she baked her own cake. 


        The days turned into weeks. By her count, she had been there for about three and a half weeks. Her time had been well spent. She caught up in all of her training, got to know her friends a bit better, and even got back to her job at the hotel. Things were starting to get back to normal, as if she had never left in the first place. The only problem was keeping her distance from Kiba. He seemed to be almost everywhere. No matter how hard she tried, there was nowhere in the village that she could go without him finding her. 


        As she was walking through the village, Hinata and Rock Lee at her side, there was a problem. They didn’t notice until they looked behind them, but Kiba had been following them the whole time, listening in to their conversation. Rock Lee charged at him, but Hinata held him back. Kiba was still there, evilly staring at Nara, who was doing her best to hide behind her two friends. Then she heard Hinata mumble something.

“This is just like what happened when she left.”



Flashback….



        It was the day after Nara had disappeared. Everyone was worried about her. At least, everyone except for Kiba. He was giddy, and happy as could be. Rock Lee finally couldn’t take it anymore, and charged at him. Hinata ran and did her best to hold him back. Rock Lee almost looked like he was on the verge of tears. “It’s your fault she’s gone! It’s your fault, Kiba! She left because of you!” Kiba snorted. “Like I care? I’m glad she’s gone. I can finally have some peace.” Rock Lee was enraged. “She loved you and that’s what you say?! She would give her life for you, you ungrateful mutt! Do you have any idea how she feels?! Did you ever think that it wasn’t HER fault that you were attacked! Well!? Did you?!” Kiba looked at his feet. “You have no idea what happened. What happened was she attacked me of her own free will.”


         Hinata finally couldn’t take it any longer. “How do you know that’s true? How do you know that’s what happened? What proof do you have?” Kiba snorted and walked away. “It’s none of your business.” Hinata let Lee go, and he fell to the ground, his eyes tearing, and yet still so full of rage and hatred. Hinata was feeling the same way, even though she had known Kiba for so long. They just stood there, chests heaving and eyes tearing, for at least ten minutes, until a bout of bad weather had forced them inside.



End of flashback….



        Kiba and Rock Lee were still yelling at each other, Hinata occasionally joining in. None of them had noticed that Nara had left. She was sick of the yelling, and sick of seeing what was happening. She just left to go back home, her heart weighed down with sadness and pain. “No one,” She thought, “Is going to care if I don’t come back…” She went home and packed her things. She didn’t know where she was going to go. She wasn’t going back to the Akatsuki. Maybe Sunagakure would be better. Or maybe back in her birth town, Yukigakure. All she knew was that staying here was tearing her apart. But she didn’t know that someone was pulling the strings. She didn’t know that someone was watching her. She didn’t know that soon, life as she had once known would cease to exist…..

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